


Hooked on a Feeling

by dirrrtydeeds



Series: Izzy Quill [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Explicit Language, F/M, Guardians of the Galaxy Rewrite, Peter Quill Has A Twin, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-02-28 05:56:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18750388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirrrtydeeds/pseuds/dirrrtydeeds
Summary: Isabella Quill is many things. A twin sister, a Ravager, an orphan, a bounty hunter, and a semi-decent engineer.But when a mysterious orb, a completely literal (and weirdly handsome) muscle-bound lunatic, the adopted daughter of a homicidal maniac, a talking raccoon, and a walking tree barrel-ass their way into her life, Izzy learns that maybe, just maybe, she's more than all those things.Maybe she's a frickin' Guardian of the Galaxy.(Only she doesn't mean frickin'.)





	1. Wake Me Up When September Ends (Prelude)

**Earth - 1988**

It was quiet and dark in the waiting room where Peter and Isabella Quill sat on one fateful night. Though normally the two took solace in each other in their  _ many _ visits to the hospital with their grandpa to see their mother, there was something about tonight that was  _ different. _ Neither of the twins would be able to tell what it was that separated this visit from the rest if they were to be asked. 

Maybe it was the pitying stares of the nurses who walked by. Maybe it was the way their grandpa hadn’t said a word on the drive over. Maybe it was how there was almost the whole family in the hospital room already, speaking in hushed tones to the emaciated Meredith Quill. Maybe it was the fact that, for once, the twins weren’t arguing on who got to listen to the Walkman while they waited for their turn to visit mother. Isabella didn’t know. She didn’t think Peter knew, either. 

All she knew was that she wasn’t  _ actually _ reading her mama’s copy of  _ The Hobbit _ she had open in her hands, just like she was sure Peter wasn’t  _ actually _ listening to  _ Awesome Mix Vol 1 _ . It felt like an eternity before their grandpa finally approached them slowly, kneeling down to be at eye level with the children. 

“Peter… Isabella…” 

Neither of the twins moved a single muscle to acknowledge him. 

“Children, your mama wants to speak with you both.” 

Again, they didn’t move. 

“Come on, Pete. Take these fool things off.” Grandpa didn’t wait for Peter to do as he was told, and instead took the headphones off of the eldest Quill twin, and turned off the Walkman before turning to Isabella, who hadn’t moved. “You next, Bell. Put the book away.” 

He didn’t mark her place in the book before taking it, closing it, and handing it back. That was okay. Isabella wasn’t interested in the book. Not right now, anyway. It was silent and tense as the three stood, and Grandpa took Isabella’s book and Peter’s Walkman once again, only to put them in Peter’s backpack. 

The hospital somehow fell eerily  _ more _ silent, other than the sound of the twins’ feet shuffling on the linoleum as an old, wrinkled hand rested on each of their shoulders to lead them through the hallway. Isabella shared a brief look with her twin, but it seemed that neither of them could look at each other for longer than a moment before their eyes went back to their shoes. 

Meredith Quill was sick.  _ Very  _ sick. That much could be apparent from even  _ before _ one entered the room she was in. The air around it felt… dead. Heavy. Isabella  _ hated _ that feeling. She steeled herself as they entered their mother’s room, thinking about her favorite times with her brother and her mother, dancing in the living room to their favorite music while fresh baked sweets cooled in the kitchen. 

She tried to hold onto that memory with all her might, but it was gone the second other members of the family moved away from her bed and revealed her mother’s gaunt face. Isabella and Peter both reached for each other in that moment for support as they faced their mother at the edge of her bed.

Aside from Meredith’s labored breathing, and the horrid beeping of the machine that monitored her heart, it was silent in the room as a mother gazed upon her two babies. 

“Why have you been fightin’ with the other boys again, baby?” Meredith’s voice was breathless and weak as she noticed the black eye on Peter. Isabella squeezed his hand tighter as he shrugged. “Peter…”

“They killed a little frog that ain’t done nothin’. Smushed it with a stick.” Peter mumbled, turning his head away from his mother’s gaze. He could still feel it, though - could feel her urging him to tell her the  _ full _ truth, but he stayed silent.

“And they were pickin’ on me again, mama.” Isabella said earnestly, coming to her brother’s aide. “Peter was only tryna help.”

Her mother’s pitying, yet understanding, soft gaze landed on her daughter then, looking at her face and searching for the honesty there. She found it. What she  _ didn’t _ find was the way that Isabella’s knuckles were just as bruised as Peter’s eye from when she had thrown a couple of clumsy punches at the boys who fought her and her brother.

“You’re so like your daddy.” Meredith whispered, the ghost of a smile playing at her lips. “Both’a you. Even look like him. And he was an  _ angel. _ Composed of pure light.” 

The twins glanced at each other then, looking at each other in hopes to see what their mama saw. Nappy, untamed brown hair on the both of them, tired brown eyes, and pale skin. They didn’t  _ feel _ like an angel made of light. They looked away. 

Meredith’s eyes closed, then, but only for a moment before Grandpa caught her attention. “Mer? You got a present for Pete and Bell, don’t you?” 

“Of course.” The words were half broken as her pale, bone-thin and shaking hands reached for two small, wrapped packages, and two cards that rested at her side - one addressed to each twin. Grandpa took them gently, opening up Peter’s backpack and putting the items inside. 

“There. I’ve got you covered, kids.” Grandpa murmured, closing up the backpack. 

“You open it up when I’m gone, okay?” Meredith told her kids with as much gusto as she could muster up. Isabella and Peter started to cry then, squeezing each other’s hands so tightly that it hurt, but neither of them were willing to let go. It was now, the Quill family realized with heavy hearts, that the twins looked the most like each other… and the most like their mother. 

“Your grandpa is gonna take such good care of you two. At least until your daddy comes back for you.” Meredith said, trying to be encouraging, but it only served in upsetting the twins further. Her weak hands both extended out to her children to the best of her abilities, shaking like a leaf. “Take my hands, kids.” 

The twins sniffled and looked away, turning closer to each other and hiding their crying faces from their mom. 

“Isabella… Peter…” Meredith pleaded, beginning to cry as well, but to no avail. Their grandpa nudged them with his hand, urging them with a heavy voice to do as their mother asked. “Take my hands…” 

It was only a second after that that the beeping of the heart monitor stopped, and was replaced with a long tone that would come to haunt the Quill family for years and years to come. 

“Mom?” Isabella asked, her voice cracked and thick with emotion. 

“Mom!” Peter cried more urgently, reaching for her with his free hand, a motion his twin copied.  

Doctors came rushing into the room, having heard the machine and the agonized cries of  _ no! _ coming from the children, and within seconds, Grandpa had separated Peter and Isabella, lifting them up into his arms to carry them out of the room where their mother lay dead. 

Their screams were piercing as they were moved away, faces red and wet with tears. Their grandpa bent over like he had before, looking at them with pleading eyes, equally heartbroken as his grandchildren were that his daughter was gone. 

“You’ve got to stay here. Please?” Grandpa looked at the two sadly as they stared in shock at the people swarming their mother’s body. As soon as he thought the twins would do as they were told, he rushed back into his daughter’s room. 

Peter and Isabella stared, holding onto each other with a death like grip, completely and utterly  _ destroyed, _ before they linked their fingers together once again and ran out of the hospital as fast as their small legs could carry them. They didn’t know where they were going, but they just knew that they couldn’t be  _ there _ anymore. 

The cold air hit their lungs like knives to the chest, and as they ran to the grass, Isabella stumbled and tripped on the dirt, taking her brother down with her as they sobbed. Neither of them stood, instead screaming to the earth and grieving the loss of their mother. 

The sobs quieted, though the tears remained, as a bright white light illuminated the ground, and they held onto each other as tight as they could as they noticed a  _ spaceship, _ terrifying and titanic in size, blocking out the night sky. Quickly, a beam of light moved downwards towards them, and they hugged each other, unwilling to lose the other like they had just lost their mother, as the lights swirled around them and swallowed them whole. 


	2. Highway to Hell

**Morag - 26 Years Later**

It was quiet on the  _ Milano  _ as Izzy Quill sat comfortably in the well-worn copilots seat, reading through the weathered copy of  _ The Hobbit _ that had survived all this time. Sure, she  _ could _ have been performing some much-needed maintenance on the ship while Peter was out on a solo mission to retrieve a mysterious,  _ expensive _ orb from some abandoned planet, but since it was  _ Peter  _ on a  _ solo mission, _ she knew from past experience to be ready in this very seat when things inevitably went south. 

Not to mention the fact that she didn’t like performing repairs when one of her brother’s ladies of the night was still aboard. It meant that she couldn’t stop them from messing with anything, snooping, or asking her stupid questions about what she was doing and why. 

So, she read. Unlike the night her mother died, she read eagerly, despite the fact that she had read the book more times than she could count. It brought her comfort, the same way the familiar crackling of her mother’s favorite songs on the Walkman brought her and Peter comfort. It was her most prized possession - gifted to her by Meredith Quill herself before the horrid, horrid cancer took ahold of her.

Izzy was pulled from her musings when she heard exactly what she had been waiting for - blaster fire, explosions, yelling, and then her twin brother falling through the open windows on the top of the  _ Milano _ . Calmly, she marked her page and set the book down for safekeeping, buckling her seatbelt and hoping that Peter’s ‘friend’ stayed in the safety of his bedroom until they were out of enemy sights. 

“ _ ‘I don’t need your help, Isabella.’ _ ” Izzy mocked her brother, taking partial control of the ship while her brother quickly got into the pilot’s seat. “ _ ‘It’s just a dumb orb. I’ll be fine without you.’ _ ”

_ “Really? _ ” Peter shouted, irritated. “Can’t this wait?” 

The twins yelled as a geyser pushed the ship up, and both put aside their snark to get themselves to safety with expert piloting only the Quill twins could have done without having to speak a single word to each other.

As soon as all was well, Peter tossed the orb to Iz, who caught it with a practiced ease. She hummed as she turned it around in her hand, taking in the rather unremarkable item. 

“Any ideas?” Peter asked hopefully, but Izzy shook her head.

“Nope. Doesn’t look like anything special, but with that exit party, and with the price we’re gonna be getting for it, it’s gotta be something important.” Izzy said thoughtfully, admiring it for another few moments before she tossed it back to Peter so he could keep it safe. “By the way, that firing squad. Did they say anything important? You know, before they tried to make me an only child?” 

Peter shrugged a shoulder. “Nah. Something about some weirdo named Ronan, and not knowing who I am, which was  _ rude.” _

“Isn’t it better no one knows our names, Pete? Given the fact that we’re wanted criminals? _ ” _ Iz pointed out, not for the first time, when her brother was upset that no one knew the name ‘Star-Lord’. 

“Whatever.” He grumbled, making an epic pouty face.

Izzy rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something else when she was cut off.

“Peter? What happened?” A timid, terrified and disoriented voice sounded from behind the Quills, making one cringe and the other roll their eyes. 

“Hey! Uh… uh… I…” Peter struggled, trying to remember the poor woman’s name. 

It was honestly a wonder, Iz thought, that Peter managed to continue to get partners when he could be such an  _ ass _ sometimes.

“Bereet.” Izzy supplied, putting her poor brother out of his misery. She always remembered their - if only as ammunition to tease the living hell out of Peter, if not to try to keep her and her brother safe from any potential threats. Not that she was  _ too _ worried, but she just liked to be careful.

“Bereet!” Peter exclaimed, as if he had known it all along. Iz rolled her eyes.  _ Moron. _ “Look, I’m gonna be totally honest with you: I forgot you were here.” 

“Real classy, asshole.” Izzy mumbled under her breath, standing up and whacking him on the shoulder while she took off her beloved black leather jacket, draping it carefully onto her seat, and retrieved the ever-present hair tie from her wrist to gather her nappy, mousy brown hair into a ponytail so she could get to work on the  _ Milano’s _ repairs. Nothing serious this time - just a few minor fixes to the ship’s heating and cooling systems that had been acting up lately. 

She worked in mostly silence, halfass paying attention to the monitor that was playing the news that Peter and Bereet were watching. She had started to tune out somewhere around the reporter talking about some more Kree-Xandar bullshit to focus more on her repairs, but she snapped out of her zone when she heard Bereet speak again. 

“Peter, you have a call.” The alien woman said helpfully, tapping on the holo to answer said call - but not before both twins panicked out loud when they saw who, exactly, was calling.

_ “Idiot!”  _ Izzy yelled, rushing to the holo as if to stop the call, even though she knew it was pointless.

“Isabella!” A heavily accidented, annoyed voice rang through the ship as the call began. Izzy took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. She  _ hated _ it when Yondu full-named her. “The  _ hell _ is goin’ on, little girl?”

Izzy winced, turning to her brother, who thankfully joined her to help. 

“What’s up, Yondu?” Peter asked nonchalantly, as if they  _ hadn’t _ just sort of screwed over their equally screwed up father figure. 

“I’m here on Morag.” Yondu said pointedly, already scowling. “Ain’t no orb… and ain’t no Quill.” 

“Weell,” Peter sucked air in through his teeth, putting his hands in his pockets. “We were in the neighborhood. Thought we’d save you the trouble.” 

Iz shot a glare at her twin, who steadfastly focused on the holo. Of course he’d be so ‘ _ I can do it on my own!’ _ when it came to just the two, but now that Yondu was looking for someone to blame, it was all this ‘ _ we _ ’ shit. 

“I stayed on the ship, for the record.” Izzy piped up, and now it was her turn to focus on Yondu while Peter glared at her. 

“I don’t give a rat’s ass which one’a yous stayed on the ship.” Yondu cut in, looking sternly between the two. “Where are ya’ll at now?” 

“I feel really bad about this…” Peter began, in a tone that said that he didn’t, in fact, feel bad about it. “But I’m not gonna tell you that.” 

Yondu practically growled, looking more irritated than Iz had seen him in ages. “I  _ slaved _ putting this deal together-”

“‘Slaved’?” Izzy repeated, tilting her head to the side in confusion. “Making a few calls is ‘slaved’?”

“-and now you’re gonna rip me off!” Yondu finished.

“I mean, really?” Peter agreed with his sister, just because making Yondu make  _ that face _ was a little  _ too _ much fun. 

“We do  _ not _ do that to each other.” Yondu said firmly, ignoring the twins being such assholes for now. “We’re Ravagers. We got a code.” 

“Yeah, and that code is ‘steal from everybody’.” Peter pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Ignoring this, Yondu continued. “When I picked the two of you up on Terra…” 

Izzy scoffed, rolling her eyes.  _ Jesus, _ Yondu had a complex. “‘Picked us up’.” 

“Those boys of mine wanted to eat ya.” Yondu pointed out for the absolute  _ millionth _ time. 

“Yeah?” Peter asked sarcastically, just as fed up with it as Izzy was. Yondu, being Yondu, either didn’t pick up on it, or didn’t play off of it. Smart. If he did, this call would be nothing but a glorified sass-off that would probably make poor Bereet cry. As it was, the alien woman was already looking  _ severely _ uncomfortable. 

“They ain’t never tasted no Terran before. I stopped ‘em. You’re both alive cause’a me! I  _ will _ find you, and I will-”

He was abruptly cut off by Peter ending the call. Almost instantly, the tension in Iz’s shoulders relaxed, and Peter’s defensive stance smoothed into a more comfortable one. It was silent in the ship for a few moments before Izzy turned to Bereet. 

“How do you feel about Xandar?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Be sure to drop a comment and let me know what ya'll thought, and I'll be seeing you all again next Tuesday! 
> 
> <3   
> Dirt


	3. Beyond the Realms of Death

**Xandar**

After Bereet had agreed that she wouldn’t mind being dropped off on Xandar, Peter had set the coordinates, and Izzy had made her way to her room to get ready for the journey. She ran a brush through her hair, letting it down to fall down gentle waves past her shoulders, taking a few quiet moments or two to look at herself in the mirror.

More often than not, she rarely ever recognized herself in the damn thing. After all, why would she need to? She was an engineer. A bounty hunter. She didn’t need to look pretty. She needed to be smart. Strong. 

Besides, Peter was pretty enough (and sometimes, vain enough) for the both of them. Though they were twins, Izzy knew that she wasn’t nearly as attractive as he was. They had the same basic features, but they didn’t look as good on her. For instance: his broad, strong shoulders got him swoons and sighs from any passing female, and a hell of a lot of males. Her shoulders, the same shoulders as him, made her look clunky and awkward.

Same with his jaw, his hips, all of it. The only thing they had in common that Izzy actually  _ liked _ about herself was their eyes. Completely identical in every way - the same honey golden brown, the same eagerness and light behind them. The same long, elegant eyelashes. Yeah, Izzy liked her eyes. Maybe her smile as well. But that was about it. And usually, it didn’t bother her, because she rarely ever thought about it, and anyone that commented on it got a boot to the face. It was only when she looked too long in this  _ damn _ mirror that it started getting to her. 

Izzy scowled, looking away from her reflection and leaning down to rinse her face off with water in an attempt to refresh her and help her change the subject of her thoughts. Her and Peter were both sort of wanted criminals by the Nova Corps, and Xandar was kind of sort of the  _ capital _ of the Nova Corps. She had to be on her guard while she and Peter got the orb to the seller, an old Xandarian named the Broker. 

“Ready to head out?” 

Izzy straightened and wiped the water from her face with her hand towel, grabbing a hair tie and putting it on her wrist, turning to face her brother and pushing down her bitter jealousy with a firm hand. It was pointless to be upset with Peter just because he was  _ prettier _ than her. 

Maybe if she and Peter grew up like normal kids on Earth with their dad, or even their grandpa, her low self esteem would be a thought more worth exploring. It might even be a  _ problem. _ Maybe even her  _ biggest _ problem. But they  _ didn’t _ grow up normal kids. They grew up with a band of frickin’  _ space pirates. _ They were Ravagers. Thieves. Outlaws. 

People like them didn’t worry about that sort of petty garbage. Looks didn’t matter. What mattered was staying alive - and learning and improving on her unique combination of skills as an engineer, a fighter, and a thief. It was who she  _ was _ that mattered, not how she  _ looked. _

_ That’s just something ugly people tell themselves to feel better,  _ **_Isabella,_ ** a voice in Izzy’s head that sounded a lot like her elementary school bullies told her.

_ Shut the hell up,  _ Izzy thought right back. 

“Yeah. Let’s go get rid of that damn thing.” Izzy’s gaze focused on the orb, feeling a bit unsettled the longer she looked. 

With that, the two slipped into their jackets, and Izzy made her way out to the planet first so that Peter could spend a little bit longer with Bereet. Probably trying to do damage control. Lord knows how many times Izzy had to patch up her idiot brother when he had been a dick to the wrong woman. Bereet didn’t seem the type to come after him with a dangerous object, but then again, you never knew. Better safe than sorry.

Instead, she shoved her hands in her pockets, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible to the Xandarian population so as to not alert them to either her criminal status, or the  _ many _ weapons she had on her body. Xandar was a little strict on their whole ‘peace’ thing. Not ideal, but at least it kept her on her toes. 

Leisurely, Izzy made her way through the population, relieved when none of the looks tossed her way lasted longer than a second before they got disinterested and moved on. She was definitely better than Peter was at blending in, that was for sure. 

It wasn’t long before Izzy had made it to the Broker’s shop, a bit before Peter had. She could see him making his way over, so she stayed patiently by the doors, taking a cursory glance at the people on Xandar, partly to assess potential threats, but also just because she liked people-watching. 

Unsurprisingly, nothing too interesting was happening. Normal people doing normal things. For a moment, the jealousy from before in her bathroom rose up, hot and vile in her stomach, and threatened to make its way up her throat. For the second time today, Izzy wondered what her life would be like if she was raised like a normal human on Earth. 

Maybe she’d be like these people on Xandar. Not worrying about her crazy surrogate dad finding her and her brother and killing them for betraying the Ravagers. Not worrying about being arrested on what she was sure was  _ multiple _ criminal charges attached to her name. Not worrying about where her next shady paycheck was gonna come from, or the danger that would surely accompany it.

Maybe she’d have a normal job. Friends. Family - more than just Peter. Maybe even someone to love. 

Tears began to prick sharply at her eyes, and Izzy quickly shut them to keep herself sane. Jesus, what was  _ with _ her today? She cleared her throat, rolling her shoulders back and blinking rapidly to clear the tears away. She was here on a  _ job. _ Then she’d be off of Xandar, and rich enough to not worry about having to do another job for  _ awhile. _ She’d buy herself something nice, too. Maybe a new jacket. Yeah… a new jacket. That’d make her feel better. At least for a little bit.

Without meaning to, Izzy’s eyes landed briefly on a random citizen, who just so happened to be looking over in her direction. She was beautiful, to be sure. Dark hair, flawless green skin,  _ perfect _ bone structure. Her body was gorgeous as well - stunning curves, strong muscles apparent, but not  _ overpowering, _ like Izzy’s were. 

For a moment, Izzy was jealous of her good looks, because apparently jealousy was the  _ goddamn _ theme of today, but after she pushed the stupid feeling to the side, she noticed something else about the woman. ‘Something’ as in the fact that she didn’t like a normal Xandarian citizen. She looked like… well, like someone like her and Peter. Someone who could be more than meets the eye. Someone… someone dangerous.

Before Izzy could think further on it, though, Peter finally made his way to her. 

“Ready?” He asked expectantly, looking briefly to where Izzy had been looking, but the green skinned woman was gone before he could see her. Unsettled, and still feeling that horrid jealousy churning in her, Izzy nodded. 

“Let’s just get this over with.” Izzy murmured, shoving her hands in her pockets. “I wanna get off this damn planet.” 

If Peter had noticed anything was wrong with his twin - which, to his credit, Iz was sure he had - he didn’t say a word. She was thankful for it. That wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have at all, let alone with her brother. Neither of them were very good about talking about their feelings, anyway. It’d just be awkward. 

So, together, they entered the shop, Peter safely holding onto the orb while Izzy’s hand subconsciously rested on the comfortable handle of her favorite knife. Something wasn’t sitting right with the youngest Quill twin, but she couldn’t place her finger on what. So she stayed silent, but ready. 

“Mister Quill, and Miss Quill.” The Broker greeted them. So far, already, he was definitely one of the nicer buyers she and Peter had liaised with. 

“Broker.” Peter greeted with a nod and a charming smile, approaching the Broker’s desk, setting down the orb on it. Good. Izzy felt a little better already, knowing that it was off her brother’s person. “The orb. As commissioned.” 

“Where’s Yondu?” The Broker asked instantly. Izzy had a feeling this would happen. People who dealt in the type of business he did tended to be able to sense a problem, or a deviation in a plan, from several clicks away. 

“Wanted to be here.” Izzy cut in, flashing him a smile to match her brother’s. “Sends his love.” 

“And told us to tell you that you got the best eyebrows in the business.” Peter finished. Izzy minutely clenched her jaw. God  _ damn _ Peter and his smart mouth. Though, the Broker seemed far more interested in the orb, so maybe he hadn’t done any damage. Hopefully. Izzy had never wanted to get the credits and get the hell out with a job more than she did with this one. 

“What is it?” Though, apparently, Peter didn’t feel the tension that his twin was, asking all these questions and making all these stupid remarks. Well, in all fairness, just  _ one _ stupid question and  _ one _ stupid remark - but in a situation like this, it was one too many for Izzy’s liking.

Izzy watched the Broker carefully as he picked up and assessed the orb like she had before on the  _ Milano, _ but he seemed to be seeing more than what was meeting the eye. Izzy had to admit, she was curious as well, but she could definitely live the rest of her life not knowing. She wasn’t being paid to know what the damn thing was. She was being paid to steal it. 

“It’s my policy never to discuss my clients, or their needs.” The Broker replied, calmly and airily. 

“Yeah, well, we almost died getting it to you.” Peter pointed out in a huff.

“An occupational hazard, I’m sure, in your line of work.” Came the smooth response from the alien.

Izzy was  _ literally _ opening her mouth to ask for the payment so she and Peter could leave before the deal fell through because her twin was being a dick when he went and ruined it. 

“Some machine-headed freak.” Peter drawled, still trying to needle information out of the Broker. “Working for a dude named Ronan.” 

“Ronan?” The Broker repeated sharply, face suddenly filled with a fear that Izzy likened to a mouse noticing a lion nearby.  _ Damn it. _ “I’m sorry, Mister Quill, Miss Quill. But I want no part in this transaction if Ronan is involved.” 

The Broker rudely shoved the orb into Peter’s chest, using one hand each to push a twin further and further out of his shop. 

“Hey, woah! Watch it!” Izzy snapped, trying to push the asshole’s hand off of her, but it seemed that fear made for strength beyond reason. Either that, or he wasn’t as weak as he seemed at first glance. 

“Who’s Ronan?” Peter demanded, finally having succeeded in at least stopping the Broker in his tracks. 

“A Kree fanatic, outraged by the Peace Treaty, who won’t rest until Xandarian culture,  _ my  _ culture, is wiped from existence!” He exclaimed fearfully, continuing now to push the twins out. 

“We had a  _ deal,  _ Broker!” Izzy said icily, wrapping her hand around the handle of the knife strapped safely to her thigh. 

“He’s someone who’s bad side I’d rather not be on.” The Broker insisted, seemingly not caring whether Izzy stabbed him or not. Jesus. This Ronan guy must be something big. Something scary. Enough for Izzy to give pause for a moment, but definitely not the more hotheaded twin.

“What about  _ our _ bad side?” Peter pressed, eyebrows knit together in anger. 

The Broker simply opened his doors with a wave of his arms, using one final shove to get the twins out. “Good day, Mister Quill, Miss Quill!” 

And with one more wave of his arms, the door shut with a final  _ clang, _ leaving the Quill twins outside. 

“Hey! We had a deal!” Peter shouted, as if  _ that _ was going to do any good. 

“You just  _ had _ to keep talking!” Izzy yelled right back, shoving her brother’s chest hard enough to make him stumble back a pace or two, but not hard enough to hurt him. “We lost out on an  _ important _ deal because  _ you _ don’t know when to leave well enough alone!” 

“Don’t  _ push me, _ Iz-” Peter’s incensed arguing died down the second his eyes caught on something behind Izzy, making her whip around quickly, her hand once again going to her knife. It was the woman from before, the woman with the flawless green skin and the beautiful, dangerous features. 

Both twins were momentarily frozen at the sight, despite the fact that they were  _ grown adults, _ and had traveled the  _ galaxy, _ and had seen many,  _ many _ beautiful women before. Though, to be fair, Iz was staring not only because she was beautiful, and also because now she was starting to wonder if seeing her before Peter arrived really  _ was _ a coincidence or not.

“What happened?” She asked, munching casually on a snack, looking between the twins as if she didn’t care which one answered. Izzy decided to let her brother take the reins on this one. Not because he was better at talking to women or anything like that - but because she wanted to see if she would punch him when he fucked it up. 

“Uh… this guy just backed out on a deal with my sister and I.” Peter explained lamely, even though the woman had probably heard all that from the yelling before. It took him a moment, but he got his weird confidence back after being, apparently, momentarily stunned. “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s a man without integrity.” 

Izzy rolled her eyes, having to literally bite her tongue to keep from making a shitty remark at  _ that _ one. ‘Man without integrity’,  _ please. _ Rich words coming from a  _ thief. _ The green skinned woman noticed. Or, Iz  _ thought _ she did. The two women exchanged a glance for barely even a fraction of a second. Izzy might have just imagined it. 

“Peter Quill.” Pete introduced himself in a way that could probably be so smooth, if it wasn’t so over the top in delivery. Izzy had told him multiple times he’d have more success if he stopped trying so hard to be cool, but since it had gotten him plenty of sleazy women in the past, he wasn’t going to be adjusting his tactics anytime soon. “People call me Star Lord.”

“You two… you have the bearings of honorable people.” She said slowly, giving her brother the same look that most women did when they had been successfully charmed, but there was something  _ else. _ Something in her eyes… something that made her feel a lot like the Broker. Scared of something  _ far _ bigger than her. 

“Weeell, you know, I wouldn’t say that.” Peter preened under the attention, completely ignoring the fact that this woman  _ wasn’t safe, _ just because she was pretty.  _ Damn it.  _ She tried so hard to use that ‘twin telepathy’ that people always talked about, trying to will her brother away from this situation, to stop tossing that  _ goddamn _ orb up and down like it was a baseball and he was trying to impress the girl next door, but it didn’t work. “People say it about me - about  _ us, _ I mean - all the time, but it’s not something we’d ever say about ourselves.” 

And in the span of a split second, the woman reached out and snatched the orb out of the air, landed a devastating kick onto her brother’s gut, and brought that foot around to nail Izzy in the side. The two Quills stumbled back with pained groans, and all Izzy could think about was how she  _ hated _ being the smart twin sometimes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading!! Be sure to drop a comment and let me know what you thought of this chapter! 
> 
> <3 
> 
> \- Dirt


	4. Let The Bodies Hit The Floor

As quickly as she could, Izzy threw the magnetic energy rope at the woman’s feet, her and Peter giving chase straight away. It only gave her pause for a moment though, but a moment was all the twins needed. Peter swiped the orb and continued to run with it while Izzy kept the woman distracted, tossing a few punches and kicks that never  _ usually _ felt this clumsy and weak, but there was something about this woman that made Izzy feel like she was a kid again, sparring with the Ravagers and learning to fight for the first time. 

They traded blows for a few very brief moments, and though Izzy knew there was no way in hell she was winning this fight, she was hoping that Peter was at least getting himself and the orb to safety. For a brief moment, she caught the movement of the familiar red jacket out of the corner of her eye coming  _ closer _ to the fight, and that split second of confusion was more than enough for the green-skinned woman to straddle Izzy’s waist, a deadly, long knife pointed down at her. 

“This wasn’t the plan.” She gritted out, raising the knife even further to plunge it into Izzy’s chest, but a quick, yet small black and gray blur tackled her would-be murderer off of her. And as much as Iz would  _ love _ to stay and find out who had just saved her life, she was a bit more preoccupied with taking her brother’s outstretched hand to help her up so they could run  _ far _ away from this nonsense. 

They both ignored the yelling and action behind them, not even bothering to look back for a second as Peter grabbed the orb and they ran their asses off. The twins held each other’s hands tightly so as to not lose each other in the crowd, and Izzy wouldn’t be surprised if Peter was remembering, as she was, the night they were abducted, holding each other’s hand as they ran, blinded with grief, out of the hospital. 

But the twins could only make it so far before two different metal objects came rushing towards them. One hit Peter in the hand that was holding the orb, and the other went straight for Izzy’s head. Each twin let out a yell, with Peter dropping the orb, and Izzy dropping to the floor. Her vision was blurred and her body felt weak, and she could hear Peter telling her to  _ get  _ **_up,_ ** _ get  _ **_up,_ ** _ Isabella!  _ but she couldn’t even tell which Peter was the real Peter - she was seeing a few. 

And though staying down seemed like a  _ really _ good idea, neither of the Quill twins were known for their ‘good ideas’. So, dizzily, Izzy stood, trying her very hardest to get to her brother, but the  _ goddamn  _ world wouldn’t stop spinning. Christ. That green-skinned woman had a  _ hell _ of an arm. Unless something else hit her. She didn’t know. Whoever did it ought to be signed to the MLB, that’s all she knew. 

Just as Izzy had  _ finally _ made it down the stairs to her brother, he had taken care of the woman. Peter stood, holding onto his sister gently, looking down at her with panicked eyes. “Are you okay, Iz? Isabella? Look at me, stop closing your eyes.”

All Izzy could do was scowl, turning her head at the sudden wave of nausea. With a weak arm, she gestured over to the general direction she thought the  _ Milano _ was, reminding her brother that they could check on her head later, that they needed to get the hell out of here now that the green-skinned woman wasn’t bothering them at the moment, and he had the orb. Thankfully Peter seemed to get it, but they had only taken one step together before darkness overtook them. 

Briefly, Izzy wondered if she was dead, since it felt like for a moment she was weightless in the air, but as soon as they were lifted up, they were both dropped on the floor. Izzy groaned in pain, still fighting the nausea so she didn’t throw up all over her twin. 

“I’m gonna get us outta here, Bell.” Peter promised quietly, looking down at her while he got his blaster at the reader. 

Izzy crinkled her nose. He never called her that. Only when something was wrong, was  _ really _ wrong. “Shu’th’fuhh’up.”

What was supposed to be a solid jab at her brother with her words ended up being slurred and gross, and Peter rolled his eyes and huffed.  _ Typical Izzy. _

“Whatever.” He grumbled, just when fresh air rushed into the knapsack they were in, and harsh light hit Izzy’s unsuspecting eyes. She groaned in pain, but knew, logically, she couldn’t wallow in it for very long. Injured or concussed or whatever was wrong with her could be addressed later. They needed to get the hell out of there. 

“C’mon, Iz, let’s go.” Any other time, Izzy would be embarrassed that her brother was picking her up and carrying her, especially in such a public area, but her desire to leave Xandar alive sort of outweighed that. So, she let Peter hold her without any complaint, though she  _ did _ toss up a middle finger when he begged her not to throw up on him as he ran. 

But, of course, because the luck the Quill twins usually carried with them seemed to be disturbingly absent today (Izzy blamed the orb), Peter’s body shook and he screamed as he got electrocuted. Izzy felt the shock to a slightly lesser degree, and the two Quills fell to the ground, Izzy tossed just a few inches in front of her brother, while they both writhed on the ground in pain. 

**“Subject 89P13, drop your weapon.”**

Izzy cringed as the booming loud voice rang throughout the city square, doing absolutely  _ nothing _ to aid her headache, and how absolutely  _ shitty _ she was feeling. Finally, though, it seemed she was done seeing double, which ordinarily would be a great sign - but her vision returned to her the second she saw the Nova Corps heading towards her and her brother. 

Though she knew she was in no shape to formulate, much less execute an escape, she looked around as if she could. Instead, what she saw was three beams holding a familiar face and two very unfamiliar faces - a racoon and a tree? - up in the air. Well. Air support in addition to the officers on the floor meant she and Peter were basically fucked. Izzy felt her body go weak. They were gonna be arrested. Over that stupid fucking orb. 

**“By the authority of the Nova Corps, you are under arrest for endangerment to life and the destruction of property.”**

“Alright. Come on up.” Two corpsman finally made it to Peter and Izzy, hoisting them up and carrying them away from the scene. 

“Hey! If it isn’t the Star Twins!” One of the corpsmen, who Izzy  _ vaguely _ recognized, laughed. 

“Star  _ Lord.” _ Peter corrected, grumbling under his breath like a petulant child. 

“Oh, sorry.  _ Lord. _ ” The corpsmen - Dal? Dun? Dey? Yeah. Dey - rolled his eyes to his partner, who looked equally unimpressed and bemused. “I picked these two up awhile back for petty theft. The guy’s got a codename.” 

“Come on, man.” Peter frowned, feeling humiliated as he looked from the ground to Izzy to back again. “It’s a… it’s an outlaw name.” 

“Just relax, pal. It’s cool to have a codename. It’s not that weird.” Dey reassured him. 

“What, little sister over here too cool for a codename?” The other corpsman, the one restraining Izzy, jeered, jostling her a bit as he did so.

“Don’ shake me. ‘M gon’ throw up.” Izzy warned him in a low, still slightly slurred voice. 

“Woah! She drunk or something?” Dey asked Peter with a raised eyebrow, as if he’d be disappointed, but not surprised, if his assumption turned out to be correct. 

“No!” Peter huffed, glaring at the one who was now holding Izzy much more carefully, and at a bit further of a distance than before. “I think she’s concussed. I don’t know. She got hit hard in the head. She needs a doctor.” 

At the now far more serious tone coming from the eldest Quill twin, Corpsman Dey nodded once and signaled to another officer nearby. “Get a Corps doctor ready. Miss Quill needs medical attention.” 

“Thanks.” Izzy mumbled under her breath, looking briefly at the corpsman before she promptly threw up all over the other guy’s shoes. And though she felt gross for throwing up, she couldn’t help but feel good that she was doing it on the more dick-ish officer’s shoes.  _ Score one for Isabella. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, everyone! be sure to drop a comment or a kudos, let me know what you liked, what you didn't, etc etc, and i'll see you all next tuesday!!


	5. Migraine

As shitty as it was to be arrested, Izzy had to admit, the medical care it came with was superb. Within fifteen minutes of being in the doctor’s office, her brain was patched right up, and she was back to her normal, sarcastic, shitty self. She had a feeling the corpsman who escorted her to and from the doctor didn’t like that very much. Whatever, she didn’t care. She was gonna go to prison anyway. Might as well be a dick to as many officers as possible while she could. 

Though, it sucked that she was seperated from her brother. Iz held out hope, though, that her and her twin would at least be put into the same prison. It seemed like the most logical thing to do. It’d be a waste of gas to transport five prisoners to different prisons. Then again, this  _ was _ the Nova Corps… Izzy couldn’t know for sure. She could only hope. 

Finally, the room she was in began to move, bringing her in front of observational glass, with Dey and some real self-entitled looking piece of shit looked at her from the other side. 

“Last, we have Isabella Michelle Quill, from Terra.” Dey explained, seemingly having to work hard to keep his smile to himself as Izzy stuck her tongue out at the other Corpsman in the room scowled at her, and even stuck up both of her middle fingers for good measure. “Same as her brother, raised from youth by a band of mercenaries called the Ravagers, led by Yondu Udonta.” 

The other Corpsman sniffed, as if he was simply  _ above _ everyone else in the room, and Izzy began to dream of punching him in the face and knocking his stupid teeth out. “What a bunch of a-holes.” 

“Hell fuckin’ yeah we are, buddy!” Izzy cheered, taking a small comfort in the fact that she had pissed him off just as much as he had pissed her off. 

The scowl deepened, and Izzy fought the urge to tell him that his face would get stuck that way if he kept it up - only because she thought it’d be hilarious if it actually  _ did _ get stuck that way. Corpsman Dey seemingly couldn’t hold his smile back anymore. Izzy decided she liked him.

“Transport all five to the Kyln.” The other Corpsman ordered, and the smile dropped off of Izzy’s face.

_ Oh, shit. _

* * *

 

**The Kyln**

Izzy’s surprise at the talking, homicidal racoon quickly turned into annoyance that the talking, homicidal racoon wouldn’t shut  _ up. _ She was starting to get a headache again, but this time, it had nothing to do with the blow to the head like before on Xandar. Still, though, she shuffled along with the rest of the people with her, flanked by silent corpsman from the front and from the back.

“I guess most of the Nova Corps wanna uphold the laws, but these ones here, they’re corrupt and cruel.” Rocket - because of course the talking racoon named himself - explained, as if the motley crew of criminals hadn’t realized that already. “But, hey. That’s not my problem. I’ve escaped twenty two prisons. This one’s no different.”

Izzy lifted an eyebrow, turning around to give the little racoon an appraising look. If what he said was true, that would be definitely impressive. Though, as her eyes fell on Groot, she realized that not much could be considered impossible with someone like  _ that _ on his side. She spared another glance at the corpsman behind them, who seemingly didn’t give a shit that they were talking about escaping. 

Interesting. Either they didn’t believe Rocket, or they were simply so positive in their maximum security prison that they didn’t care that he had such a streak against prisons in the past. Given the fact that this was the goddamn  _ Kyln, _ Izzy wouldn’t be surprised if it was the latter. 

“You two Terrans are lucky the broad showed up, because otherwise, me and Groot would be collecting that bounty right now, and you’d be getting drawn and quartered by Yondu and those Ravagers.” Rocket said snarkily, and it was then that Izzy realized why people got so irritated by her and Peter having such an attitude all the time.

“Or eaten.” Izzy mumbled under her breath, remembering the threat that had been following the twins for the last twenty some-odd years it had been since she and Peter joined Yondu. 

“Iz and I have had a lot of folks trying to kill us through the years. We ain’t about to be brought down by a tree and a talking racoon.” Peter said with the confidence of a man who wasn’t in prison right now. 

“Hold!” One of the corpsman called, stopping the green skinned woman, Izzy, Rocket, Peter, and Groot in their tracks. 

“What’s a racoon?” Rocket asked in confusion, his ears twitching.

“What?” Izzy turned her head to face him once again, eyebrows knit together. “You serious?” 

“‘What’s a racoon’? It’s you, stupid.” Peter quipped.

Rocket looked confused still for a moment, before schooling his features into something more stubborn. “Ain’t nothin’ like me but me.” 

The door in front of them opened, and the group was able to move again through the prison. 

“So, this orb has a real shiny blue suitcase, Ark of the Covenant, Maltese Falcon sort of vibe. What is it?” Izzy asked, mostly towards the woman in front of her, but she had a feeling she’d be staying silent, and Rocket would be taking over, as per usual.

“I am Groot.” The tree said, only serving to irritate Izzy further. She rolled her eyes and kept her mouth shut. If no one wanted to answer her, then whatever. 

“So what? What’s the orb?” Peter pressed on, determined to get a better answer than ‘I am Groot’. 

“I have no words for an honorless thief.” The woman in front of Izzy answered. 

“Oh, so you’ll answer  _ him?” _ Iz scowled, and if she wasn’t wearing handcuffs, she’d probably be crossing her arms over her chest. Again, though, she was ignored. 

“Pretty high and mighty coming from the lackey of a genocidal maniac.” Rocket taunted, making the woman give him a glare that Izzy wouldn’t be surprised if it hadn’t actually killed someone before. Rocket, however, seemed unperturbed. “Yeah, I know who you are. Anyone who’s anyone knows who  _ you _ are.” 

“Yeah, we know who you are.” Peter said, again,  _ way _ too confidently for someone in handcuffs, before he looked back down at Rocket. “Who is she?” 

“I am Groot.” 

“Yeah, you said that.” Izzy said through gritted teeth, patience running thinner and thinner the more she had to listen to ‘I am Groot’ and Rocket’s  _ incessant _ yammering. 

“I wasn’t retrieving the orb for Ronan.” The green-skinned woman said sharply as they all came to a stop for another door. “I was betraying him. I had an agreement to sell it to a third party.” 

“I am Groot.” 

“I heard you the first  _ eighty nine times. _ ” Izzy didn’t feel bad in the slightest for snapping. She dared  _ anyone _ to spend longer than five minutes with Groot and  _ not _ get annoyed. “What’s wrong with the Giving Tree over there, anyway?” 

“Well, he don’t know talk good like me and you.” Rocket explained simply, drawing about the millionth eye roll of the day from Izzy. “So his vocabulistics is limited to ‘I’ and ‘am’ and ‘Groot’,  _ exclusively _ in that order.” 

“Well, I’ll tell you what, that’s gonna wear real thin, real fast.” Peter grumbled.

“‘Gonna’?” Izzy asked, pausing briefly when both her and her twin heard the familiar music -  _ Hooked on a Feelin’ _ was probably Izzy’s favorite song on the Awesome Mix, she’d be able to point it out anywhere. Both her and Peter stopped and looked at one of the guards, who was toying around with the Walkman like it was just some stupid, random object. 

Visceral rage built up in the two of them, overly protective of the item, but since Izzy had already gotten the absolute shit beaten out of her today, only one of them made a move to go get it. 

“Hey! Put that away!” Peter yelled, slipping into the room just as the door shut behind him. “Hey! Listen to me, you big blue bastard! Take those headphones off, that’s mine. Those belong to the impound. That tape and that player is  _ mine!” _

Izzy watched impassively as Peter got electrocuted once again. Idiot. 

“Ain’t you gonna do anythin’ about your brother over there?” Rocket asked curiously.

_ “Hooked on a Feelin’!  _ Blue Swede, 1973, that song belongs to  _ me!” _ Peter yelled, only to be electrocuted some more. Izzy didn’t blame the guard for going a bit overboard in the electric shocks. If anything, that song belonged to  _ her. _ It was  _ her _ favorite, after all. She probably would have electrocuted him, too.

“Nope.” Izzy responded cooly to Rocket’s question, watching with the rest of them as he writhed on the floor. “He’s being stupid, so he gets the cattle prod.”

“Huh.” 

“I am Groot.” 

Izzy smiled down, for a moment, at Rocket, then up at Groot, before turning to the green-skinned woman, who was watching her with narrowed eyes. Not the same look from before on Xandar, but this time… more of a  _ curiosity _ lingered behind the gaze. Izzy met it evenly, but no words were exchanged between the two women as the group was momentarily separated for decontamination. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks everybody for reading! please please drop a comment letting me know what you thought, and smash that mf kudos button!!! thanks <3


	6. Miss Jackson

“I didn’t mean to injure you so terribly back there.” 

Izzy looked up in surprise at the sudden admission from the green skinned woman right as they had finished getting dressed after decontamination. Izzy stayed silent, though, watching her fellow prisoner quietly. She still wouldn’t meet her eyes, instead focusing on her feet as she, like Izzy, laced up her boots. 

“I wasn’t trying to kill you or your brother. I only needed the orb. You were just getting in the way.” Finally, her eyes lifted, and the two women silently looked at each other for a few moments, as if sizing each other up. 

In the end, Izzy broke the silence first, nodding slowly while she quickly and sloppily braided her hair rather than her usual ponytail, just to keep it out of her face, since her hair ties were confiscated. “I understand. Just the name of the game, I guess. I’d do the same thing.” 

Without any further words between the two, she and Izzy made their way to join the others, where they were ushered to a the main area of the prison, after being handed a bed roll each. All five of them walked together, presumably looking for familiarity in such a gigantic place, but much like every idea Pete or Iz ever had, it turned out to be a bad one. 

Izzy found herself dodging a stray piece of  _ something _ that had been thrown, but upon further inspection, nothing was being thrown at  _ her,  _ specifically. All of it was for the green skinned woman, who after listening to several curses and yells, Iz was finally able to learn was named Gamora. 

_ You first! You first!  _

_ Murderer!  _

_ You’re dead! _

_ You’re scum! _

**_Murderer!_ **

Izzy thought back to the conversation she had just had with Gamora. About how she didn’t want to kill her or Peter. How she had been trying to steal the orb so she could get the money to escape Ronan. And then she thought about how her and Peter had done a  _ lot _ of questionable things in their lives, but it didn’t make them bad people. She wondered just how much of Gamora’s wrongdoing was stemmed from things she was forced to do.

“Like I said. She’s got a rep.” Rocket explained, as if he didn’t know the dictionary definition of the word ‘tact’. “A lot of prisoners here have lost their families to Ronan and his goons. She’ll last a day, tops.” 

“The guards…” Iz began slowly, casting her gaze towards the guards in the watchtower, who seemed almost bored at this display. 

“They’re here to stop us from getting out. They don’t care what we do to each other inside.” Rocket confirmed Izzy’s lost thought. 

“Whatever nightmares the future holds are  _ dreams _ compared to what’s behind me.” Gamora said lowly, locking eyes with Peter. An involuntary shiver ran down Izzy’s spine, and she opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by walking directly in front of a massive blue man leering down at her with a deep, rumbling voice. 

“Check out the new meat.” He grinned, and within  _ seconds _ Izzy started trying to place exactly what species he was so that she could find his nuts and kick them in. 

Apparently, though, her ‘back the fuck up’ glare was misinterpreted, because he then rested his fingers on her cheek, stroking downwards. She could hear Peter yelling, but someone in their ragtag little group must have been holding him back, because he didn’t come barrel-assing through to start a fight everyone knew he wouldn’t be able to finish.

“I’m gonna slather you in Gunavian jelly, and go to town-” The creep was cut off by elongating tree branches sliding into his nostrils and  _ lifting him _ by that grip, at least a foot in the air. Izzy gasped and took a step back, in complete awe but also in  _ disgust _ at the show of strength by Groot. 

“Let’s make something clear!” Rocket’s voice, for belonging to such a small body, rang loudly and strongly through the prison - which was otherwise silent, aside from the alien who was yelling and trying in vain to pull Groot out of his nose. “These two Terrans here, they’re  _ our _ booty! You wanna get to them? You go through us! Or, more accurately,  _ we go through  _ **_you!”_ **

Well. At least Iz knew that her and Peter would be safe in prison. After all, Rocket and Groot were protecting them the same reason Peter and Izzy were going through such lengths to get that orb back - money. Lots and lots of it. And there was damn near  _ nothing _ that’d keep a bounty hunter away from their prize. 

“Yeah, we’re with him!” Peter said triumphantly after Groot dropped the alien onto the floor, leaving him to clutch his nose and cry on the floor. Izzy stood still as Peter followed Rocket and Groot, turning her head to meet Gamora’s even gaze, gesturing with a small head motion to an empty cell to her right, and then headed inside of it. Instead of arguing, thankfully, Gamora followed her to it.

The absolute  _ vile _ taunts and yells followed the two women all the way, prisoners banging on the plexiglass and shoving their ugly faces as close as they could. Gamora remained as poised as a queen, flinching only at a particularly hard bang on the cell door, but she still looked forward and otherwise displayed no signs of fear. Her back was straight, her hands were folded primly into her lap, and she looked like Izzy assumed Marie Antoinette had when she was told the French were storming the castle to cut her head off.

Meanwhile, Iz was the perfect picture of insolence. The back of her shoulders were pressed to the wall, but her body was resting at a casual lean, legs stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankles, while she admired her nails, picking out the dirt from underneath them. She had learned a lot of lessons from Yondu when she was a kid, and one of the more important ones was that the best way to get under someone’s skin was to act like  _ this. _

Their unflinching attitude eventually served its purpose, and most of the other prisoners filed away and to their own sleeping areas - but of course, not before a few taunts about how that cell couldn’t keep them safe forever. Izzy rolled her eyes as the last one finally left, picking up her bed roll and setting it down on one of the cots, making at least a  _ little _ bit of an effort to make it look nice. If she was gonna be in prison, she wanted to at least be comfortable while she slept. 

“Why are you doing this?” Gamora’s low voice broke the silence, making Izzy let out a quiet sigh and sit down, turning to face her new cellmate. 

“Cause I know how it feels.” Izzy said simply, leaning back on the palms of her hands. “I may not be working for someone like Ronan, but my whole life, I’ve been working for a Ravager. I never killed anyone, but I’ve stolen plenty. Lied. Cheated. Maimed. Shot. Done all sorts of questionable shit. But I never had a choice. It was either do all that, or get eaten.”

“So?” Gamora pressed, her forehead crinkled, still clearly confused as to Izzy’s reasoning. “You don’t know that I’m like you, that I was forced. You don’t know anything  _ about _ me. What if I deserve everything those prisoners are threatening to do to me?” 

Iz sighed, exasperated and exhausted after such a long day, rubbing her face with her hands. “You’re right. I  _ don’t _ know. There’s a  _ lot _ I don’t know. But I guess it’s just human nature to want to see the best in everyone, even if it’s probably a bad idea.” 

“That’s a fatally moronic sentiment.” Gamora said icily, crossing one leg over her shoulder, as if the whole topic was irritating her now, even though she was the one who brought it up and continued to push it. 

“Yeah, well. My brother and I have never been known for being safe, or smart.” Izzy murmured, tugging on the ends of her hair nervously as she thought about her brother. She knew he must be with Groot and Rocket, who’d keep him (relatively) in one piece, but that didn’t stop her from worrying. She always worried about him.

“Terrans are ridiculous.” Gamora declared, making Izzy actually laugh out loud. Gamora looked at her in alarm.

“If I had a credit for every time I heard that, Peter and I wouldn’t have needed to take that damn orb to begin with.” Izzy chortled, laying down and relaxing on her bed roll, clasping her hands over her ribs and staring up at the ceiling. 

“And now you’re going to fall asleep with  _ me _ in the room?” Gamora asked incredulously, staring at her the same way people looked at car crashes - with morbid fascination, disgust, and disbelief. “Are you serious? I could kill you in your sleep! I already gave you heavy brain damage earlier today!” 

Izzy yawned, completely unbothered by Gamora’s remarks. “Well, for the sheer fact that I don’t think my brother could live a day on his own without me… I’m gonna ask that you don’t kill me in my sleep. And also, you already apologized for hitting me in the head, so.” 

“I  _ didn’t _ apologize.” Gamora said through gritted teeth. Izzy waved her away with an errant hand, closing her eyes to at least  _ try _ to get some rest tonight. 

“Night, Gamora.” 

And with that, Izzy fell asleep. As it turned out, she was right to trust Gamora not to hurt or kill her in her sleep. But the other prisoners… that was a different story. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I'm about a day late posting this week! I was out of town and forgot to queue it, but next chapter we finally get to Drax, and I'll be sure to post that on time!! Be sure to comment and let me know what you're thinking of the story so far, and if you want, follow me on tumblr (same username) or on twitter (same username but without the 'i')! Love you all!!
> 
> <3   
> Dirt


	7. This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race

It was funny, Izzy thought bleakly to herself, how quickly life was shoved into perspective for her when there was a prison shank at her neck. It made her think about her brother, and how she hoped he’d be okay when he realized she was dead. It made her think about Yondu, wondering what his reaction could be. And it made her think a  _ hell _ of a lot about seeing her mama again. 

But it  _ didn’t _ make her regret standing up for Gamora, even if it meant her death. And despite the fact that she was scared shitless, she looked her would be murderers in the eyes, trying to be just as badass as her twin brother, and the woman beside her.

“Gamora, consider this a life sentence for your crimes against the galaxy.” The apparent leader of the group of prisoners snarled, moving the knife closer to Gamora’s throat, before turning to snarl at Izzy as well. “And  _ you _ , little Terran, were a fool to ally yourself with this murderer. For it, you will die.” 

Just as Iz had opened her mouth so that her last words could be something mean, or at least semi-snarky, her execution was put on hold.

“You  _ dare?” _ Stepping from the shadows was a  _ huge _ man, grey skinned, bald, and covered in blood red tattoos - or were those scars? - growled, and the knives pointed at both her and Gamora relaxed and turned back. The two women exchanged a quick glance before turning back to the man. “You know who I am, yes?” 

“Y-You’re Drax. The Destroyer.” The leader’s voice, and his whole body, shook as he spoke. And with a man like  _ that, _ with a  _ name _ like that, Izzy could understand the fear. 

“And you know why they call me this.” Drax continued, stepping slowly closer. Izzy was getting the sinking feeling that her execution hadn’t been stopped… rather, her executioner had changed. 

“You slayed  _ dozens _ of Ronan’s minions.” The leader said fearfully, stepping quickly to the side as Drax stood now right in front of Izzy and Gamora. Izzy didn’t know how this one man was able to strike more fear into her than the three who had taken her and Gamora to begin with and held the knives to their throats, but he was. 

“Ronan murdered my wife, Ovette. And my daughter, Camaria.” Drax’s low voice rumbled, finally close enough for Izzy to properly look him in the eyes. They were tinged red, which was both terrifying, but also somewhat  _ beautiful  _ in the way it made his bright blue eyes stand out. Scary as hell… but Izzy could definitely admire that feature in the Destroyer. “And he  _ laughed!” _

That being said… if he had turned to her and yelled like that, rather than him turning to the other prisoner and yelling, she probably would have crapped her pants. 

“Their lives are not yours to take. He killed my family…” Drax said lowly, turning again to face Iz and Gamora.  _ Shit. _ Izzy had the feeling that that telling this man she didn’t even know who Ronan  _ was _ wouldn’t do her any good. “I shall kill one of his in return.” 

“Of course, Drax.” The terrified alien breathed, holding up his surprisingly ornate knife for Drax to take. “H-here, I…” 

Izzy looked over at Gamora when she felt a light bump of her boot against hers. Her eyes flashed quickly over to the two prisoners still holding their knives in place towards them, and in just that short glance, Izzy knew what to do. In a flash of movement, Izzy gripped and rolled the wrist of the one on her side, taking the knife from his hand and kicking him  _ hard _ in the stomach knocking him farther back and onto the floor, leaving Izzy to point the knife at Drax’s throat.

He didn’t even flinch, staring down at her unblinkingly, whereas the original instigator was looking like he had pissed his pants at Gamora pointing her own knife at him. Izzy met his even gaze as best as she could, but it was definitely no easy feat. His eyes were kind of… intense. 

“I’m no family to Ronan, or Thanos.” Gamora spoke lowly, fixing her glare onto Drax as she dropped her knife and nodded at Izzy to do the same. They both clattered harshly to the ground. “We’re your only hope at stopping him.” 

Izzy  _ really _ wished they hadn’t taken that orb, so she could stop being mixed up in all this ‘we’ shit. 

Drax practically roared as he dropped his own knife, instead using each of his huge, calloused hands to wrap around Gamora and Izzy’s throats. The women both gasped for air, their hands going to his wrists to try to pull him off, but neither of them were having any success in the slightest. “Woman, your words mean  _ nothing _ to me!” 

Dimly, Iz wondered if the knife would have been a better way to go. So far, she wasn’t a fan of being choked out. Hopefully he could speed up a bit- 

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!” Peter’s voice had never once sounded sweeter to his twin. Izzy choked in her attempt to call out to her brother, fingers weakly reaching for him for help. She saw his panicked eyes, and his hand instinctively reached for hers in turn, but he stayed back so as to not agitate Drax further. “You know, if killing Ronan is your sole purpose, I don’t think this is the best way to go about it.” 

“Are you not the brother of the woman this wench attempted to kill? Did she not also attempt to kill  _ you?” _ At his final word, Drax’s grip tightened on both Iz and Gamora, making the two women gasp helplessly for air. 

“Well, I mean. She’s not the first woman to try and do that to me.” Peter began conversationally, making Izzy daydream about all the ways she was going to try to ruin his life when she was a ghost. Was he  _ seriously _ about to start talking about his sex life when her  _ life was on the line? _

The answer, as it turned out when Peter began to lift his shirt and point out some scars, was yes. “Look, this is from a smokin’ hot Rajak girl. Stabbed me with a fork. Didn’t like me skipping out on her at sunrise. I got, right here, a Kree girl tried to rip out my thorax. She caught me with this skinny little A’askavariian who worked in Nova Records. I was trying to get information. You ever see an A’askavariian? They have tentacles, and needles for teeth. If you seriously think I’m interested in that, then-”

_ “Peter!” _ It took Izzy every ounce of effort she had in her body, and the call was weak at best and positively pathetic at worse, but thankfully, her twin got the message. 

“Right, right. You don’t care.” Peter said quickly, his eyes widening. “But there’s the point. She betrayed Ronan. He’s coming back for her. And when he  _ does, _ that’s when  _ you…” _

Drax’s death grip on the two women never once faltered, despite the obvious confusion lacing his deep voice as he questioned Peter’s hand motion. “Why would I put my finger on his throat?” 

It was silent for a moment as everyone in the room tried to process what Drax had just said.

“What? No, it’s a symbol.” Peter repeated the hand motion. “For you slicing his throat.” 

“I would not slice his throat.” Drax insisted darkly, squeezing Izzy’s throat tighter. She gasped for air, pleading with her eyes for Peter to do  _ better _ at negotiating for her life before it was too late. “I would cut his head clean off.” 

Peter looked pained as he turned to the other prisoner. “It’s a general expression for you killing somebody. You’ve heard of this. You’ve seen this, right? You know what this is.” 

“Yes, yes.” The prisoner breathed, nodding slowly.

“Everybody knows.”

The second Drax turned to look at the prisoner, he gasped and shook his head, looking away in fear. “No, no.” 

“What I’m  _ saying _ is, you want to keep her alive. Don’t do his work for him. And my sister, you said it yourself - Gamora tried to kill her, too. She’s innocent, she doesn’t have to die.” Peter insisted lowly. It was silent for a second too long, and Izzy’s vision had just started to blur when she and Gamora were dropped unceremoniously onto the floor. 

The two women gasped and shook as they greedily sucked in air into their starved lungs. Izzy followed Drax’s hand as he picked up the knife at her side, the one she had been holding to his throat just moments before. He looked at her in brief consideration, then back at the knife.

“I like this knife. I’m keeping it.” He murmured, keeping it held loosely in his hand as he walked out of the room. And as Izzy watched him go, as Peter raced to her side, she couldn’t help but curse that fucking orb one more time for almost killing her for the third time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to all the new people sending in kudos! please be sure to send in a comment and let me know what you think! you can follow me on twitter at drrrtydeeds and tumblr is the same username! 
> 
> <3
> 
> \- Dirt


	8. This Will Be The Day

_ “Listen! _ I could care less whether you live or die!” The eldest Quill twin snapped as they headed back to their cells to sleep for the night. “The only life here I care about is my sister’s.” 

_ “Peter.” _ Izzy said warningly, glaring at her brother, but as per usual, no one cared when she opened her mouth. 

“Then why stop the big guy? You could have gotten him to drop her and finish me off. Why bother with me?” Gamora demanded, a fire in her eyes that Izzy most certainly  _ never _ wanted to be on the receiving end of. 

“Simple. You know where to sell my orb.” Peter said haughtily. Izzy groaned, burying her face in her hands. She knew that wasn’t all - she knew her brother better than that. He wouldn’t just stand there and watch Gamora die if it came down to it. But oh, no, the big bad Star-Lord had a  _ reputation _ to keep up, didn’t he? Had to be more caught up in the money than the people. 

“How are we gonna sell it if  _ we, _ and  _ it, _ are still here?” Gamora asked through gritted teeth, a hand on her hip. 

“My friend Rocket here has escaped from twenty two prisons.” Peter smirked, looking down at the raccoon. 

“We’re getting out.” Rocket assured them. “And then we’re heading  _ straight _ to Yondu, to collect the bounty for you twerps.” 

“How much was your buyer willing to pay for the orb?” Peter questioned, focusing now on Gamora. 

It was silent a moment, Gamora looking down, and then finally turning to meet Izzy’s eyes directly. “Four billion units.” 

_ “What?” _ Rocket hissed, eyes wide in shock. 

“Holy  _ shit.” _ The two twins spoke together, their jaws practically to the floor. Not that Izzy was nearly as money hungry as Peter and Yondu and all of them… but four  _ billion _ units. Holy fucking  _ shit. _

“That orb is my opportunity to get away from Thanos and Ronan.” Gamora stressed, fixating her determined gaze onto Rocket now. “If you free us, I’ll lead you to the buyer directly and we’ll split the profits between the four of us.”

Izzy’s head was spinning. That was a billion units. One  _ billion _ units. That was… that was freedom. That was no more bounty hunting. That was no more Yondu. That was a comfortable life for her and Peter. 

“I am Groot.” 

Izzy’s head snapped over to see Groot, looking about as disgruntled as a tree physically could. 

_ “Five _ of us.” Rocket grumbled, translating for his friend. “Asleep for the danger, awake for the money, as per frickin’ usual.” 

“We ought to go rest now.” Izzy murmured, hands in her pockets. “We’ll start to look suspicious standing around for this long. Plus, it’s been a long day. We’ll discuss this in the morning.” 

Rocket didn’t need to be told twice - shuffling past everyone to head back to the sleeping area they were stood in front of. Gamora turned to leave as well, but paused when Izzy didn’t move with her. 

“I’ll be there in a minute.” Izzy promised, and the ex-assassin simply nodded once, heading to the cell they were to share for the night. 

As soon as they were relatively alone, the two twins hugged each other tightly, Izzy burying her face in her brother’s chest. 

“I’m sorry, Bell.” Peter murmured, holding her close. “I promised mom I’d take care of you, and I failed multiple times today  _ alone.” _

“I’m a big girl, Pete. You can’t protect me al the time.” Izzy reminded him gently as they both pulled away from the comfort of each other’s arms. “We’re gonna get out of here. And we’re gonna get the credits. And we’re gonna be  _ free. _ Okay?” 

Peter nodded, looking visibly relaxed at Izzy’s show of confidence. She felt a brief smile flicker at the corner of her lips. As long as Peter thought they’d be okay, they’d be okay. Even if Izzy had to convince Peter that they’d be okay to begin with. 

“Sleep tight, Iz.” 

“Yeah, you too. See you in the morning.” 

* * *

 

“If we’re gonna get out of here, we’re gonna need to get into that watchtower.” Rocket explained as they grabbed their grub for the morning and made their way to a more private table to discuss their plan further. 

Izzy’s eyes flickered up, looking at the guards overseeing and controlling every square inch of the prison. The guards who had noticed her and Gamora almost dying last night and did nothing. She remembered one in particular who caught the prisoners going to kill them, and asked them to move the bodies to the showers when they were done, for easier clean up. She promised herself then, if they got up there, she would  _ not _ go easy on them. 

“And to do that, I’m gonna need a few things. The guards wear security bands to control the ins and outs. I need one.” Rocket continued, gesturing to a guard pressing a few buttons on his band to open a door above them. 

“Leave that to me.” Gamora said simply. Izzy wondered if she was thinking about the same thing as she had been, just a moment ago. 

“That dude, there. I need his prosthetic leg.” 

Everybody turned to Rocket in confusion at the next part of the plan, Izzy out loud questioning it. “What? His  _ leg?” _

“Yeah. God knows I don’t need the rest of him. Look at him, he’s useless.” Rocket snarked. Izzy looked in consideration at the guy for a few moments before looking away as Peter agreed to be the one to get it. 

“And finally, on the wall back there is a black panel. Blinky yellow light. Do you see it?” Rocket questioned. Izzy nodded as she spotted it, about halfway up the watchtower. 

“Yeah.” Peter said, not looking too long so as to avoid suspicion. Gamora and Izzy followed the action, none of them noticing Groot moving over to the panel as Rocket continued to describe exactly what they needed.

“There’s a quarnyx battery behind it. Purplish box, green wires. To get into that watchtower, I definitely need it.” 

Gamora looked as if she was using extreme effort to not roll her eyes. “How are we supposed to do that?” 

“Well, supposedly, these bald-bodies find you attractive. So maybe you can work out some sort of a trade.” Rocket explained simply. 

Both women at the table glared mercilessly at the raccoon. 

“You’ve  _ got _ to be joking.” Izzy said flatly, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“No, no, not you, Iz.  _ Definitely _ not you.” Rocket crinkled his nose in disgust, and were it not for the fact that they needed Rocket for this jail break, she would have broken his snout in half then and there. As it was, to keep herself from getting violent, she gripped the table hard enough for her knuckles to whiten against her skin. 

“Look, it’s twenty feet in the air, and it’s in the middle of the most heavily guarded part of the prison.” Peter cut in, recognizing all too well that look in his sister’s eyes. “It’s impossible to get up there without being seen.” 

“I got  _ one plan, _ and it involves the frickin’ quarnyx battery, so figure it out! Can I get back to it?” Rocket snapped, baring his teeth aggressively. Once it was silent for a moment, he took the pause as invitation to continue. “Thank you. Now, this is important. Once the battery is removed, everything’s gonna slam into emergency mode. Once we have it, we gotta move quickly, so we definitely need to get that last.” 

Suddenly, the lights shut off and systems audibly powered down before alarms started blaring loudly throughout the prison. The four looked at each other for a brief moment, seemingly having realized they had all forgotten about Groot in that instant, before turning and sure enough, seeing Groot holding out the battery with a winning smile. 

_ “Or _ we could just get it first and improvise.” Rocket seethed, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“I’ll get the armband.” Gamora rushed to go do that.

“Izzy and I will get the leg.” Peter rushed to grab his twin’s arm, going to search for the prisoner they needed as the guards instructed Groot to stand down. As she and Peter ran, for what was quite possibly the millionth time, Izzy used every curse she knew on that  _ goddamn _ orb. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, as always! please comment, let me know what you think! i'm nearing the end of the chapters i've written in advance, and i'm getting to the point where i'm not sure whether or not people are interested in me continuing this story. but thank you to everyone who's read and left kudos! 
> 
> <3 
> 
> Dirt


	9. Fade to Black

It had been one of the most uncomfortable moments of her life, having to bargain for the prisoner’s prosthetic leg. In the end, it had taken a transfer of thirty  _ thousand _ units, but finally, they were able to get the man to agree to part ways with it. And, of course, it was no easy feat getting the damn leg through the guards roaming the place back to the watchtower, either, but Izzy had to admit that she took great joy in beating the holy hell out of some of these a-holes. 

Finally, though, with a gun in Peter’s hand and a metal leg in Izzy’s, the Quill twins were able to make it to the watchtower to climb up Groot. And it  _ seemed _ like they were going to make a quick getaway - a lot of the guards were now either dead or unconscious on the floor - but they were stopped in their tracks as one of the security drones zoomed and halted in front of them. 

Izzy didn’t even have time to process anything before she heard a yell that was now very familiar to her, and she watched in shock and awe as Drax jumped almost ten feet in the air, grabbed the drone, and  _ ripped the metal in half. _ And sure, yes, it was probably bad of her to be admiring how strong he must be to do that when his strength was focused on choking her to death the night before, but  _ damn, _ he was  _ strong. _

“You! Man who has lain with an A’askavariian, and  _ you, _ foolish woman!” Drax called out, pointing up at the two. 

“It was  _ one time.” _ Peter grumbled, at the same time Izzy frowned;

“I’m not foolish…” 

Nevertheless, the twins continued to climb Groot, followed closely now by Drax. 

“You Terrans need to  _ promise  _ me that I may stay with the green wench until Ronan follows, so that I may kill him.” Drax growled as he caught up easily to Izzy and Peter. 

“I don’t think-” Peter began, his tone sharp as he looked down at his sister’s would-be murderer, but Izzy cut him off. 

“Sure, fine, whatever. We promise. Hurry  _ up, _ Peter!” Izzy had to snap at her brother to get his ass into gear as he stared at her in shock, but thankfully, he kept climbing. 

“He tried to kill you, Iz!” Peter exclaimed. 

“I know! I was there!” Izzy shot back, but finally, they made it up to the door, which Rocket was fiddling with the armband Gamora had retrieved to open. Once it hissed open, all five stared impassively at the lone guard, and Izzy took  _ great _ pleasure watching Groot yank him out of his chair and toss him uncaringly behind him. 

It wasn’t until the door shut that the others - or more accurately, Gamora, realized that Izzy and Peter had brought on a straggler. 

“Spare me your foul gaze, woman.” Drax snarled, stepping uncomfortably close to her. 

“Why is this one here?” Gamora asked scathingly, glaring at the twins. 

“Because I promised him that he could stay by your side until he kills your boss, and I  _ always _ keep my promises.” Izzy said firmly, hoping that her tone wasn’t leaving room for argument. “Especially when they’re made to muscle-bound lunatics who have no problem killing me if I don’t.” 

Peter and Gamora were both  _ incredibly _ irritated by the new addition to their little rag-tag group of prison escapees, but Izzy really, truly didn’t care right now. She dropped the leg on the part of the control panel that Rocket wasn’t working quickly on, feeling weird for having held onto it for as long as she had. 

“Hm? Oh, I was just kidding about the leg.” Rocket said, distracted by his electrical work that was so quick and complicated that even Izzy, who liked to consider herself semi-competent at engineering, could barely follow. “I just need these two things.” 

“What?” Izzy asked flatly, hands on her hips now. 

“No, I thought it’d be funny.” Rocket assured her with a chortle, as if that would make her feel better. “Was it funny? Wait, what did he look like hopping around?” 

“I had to transfer him thirty thousand units!” Peter complained, which only sent Rocket into further hysterics as he continued to work on the circuitry. Izzy’s eyebrows knit together as she tried her very hardest to understand. It was tough, since she taught herself everything she knew about mechanics, but it  _ almost _ looked like he was trying to mess with the artificial gravity. 

And really, the only reason Izzy recognized it was because it was the one thing on the ship she wouldn’t try to repair. If it failed, she would have paid whatever needed to be paid to fix it. Everything else, she could try. But she wasn’t stupid - she knew her own skill level. She’d be doing more harm than good if she tried to help Rocket right now, even though she  _ desperately _ wanted to be actually  _ useful _ in their escape attempt, given the fact that all she and Peter had done was grab a leg they didn’t even need. 

Instead, Izzy just watched as Rocket laughed, and then helplessly stared at the drones firing at the windows. 

“How are we going to leave?” Drax demanded. 

“Well, he’s got a plan.” Peter gestured to Rocket, his gaze sour and his words sharp. “Right? Or is that another thing you  _ made up?” _

“I have a plan, I have a plan!” Rocket assured them, fingers flying as he pulled wires and disconnected and reconnected certain protocols. 

_ “Cease _ your yammering and relieve us from this irksome confinement.” Drax ordered darkly, his voice half a growl as he spoke. 

“Yeah, I’ll have to agree with the walking thesaurus on this one.” Peter said, shifting uncomfortably as he looked all around at the drones pointing their weapons at the watchtower.

“Do not  _ ever _ call me a thesaurus.” Drax said threateningly, standing way too close to Peter for Izzy’s comfort. She knew firsthand what that man was capable of. She didn’t want him giving Peter a taste of that, too. 

“It’s just a metaphor, dude.” Peter grumbled, looking more and more antsy by the minute - a feeling Izzy echoed. Sure, Rocket would turn of the artificial gravity, but  _ then what? _ Their bodies would just float in the Kyln after the guards finally broke through the glass and shot and killed them? 

“His people are completely literal. Metaphors are gonna go right over his head.” Rocket informed them, and honestly, it made a hell of a lot of sense. The way he talked was a little archaic - not that there was anything inherently wrong with that - and he was confused at the whole finger-throat thing from the night before. 

Drax took a moment to look almost proud of himself, his shoulders rolling back. “Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast. I would… catch it.” 

Izzy had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, instead looking over at her twin. “Oh, you’re gonna be having a hard time, Pete.” 

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Peter frowned, offended. 

“It means you talk almost  _ exclusively _ in metaphors.” Izzy said factually, giving her brother a  _ look _ that meant ‘don’t argue with me, you know I’m right’.

“Wh- that is  _ not true- _ ” Peter protested, scrambling for his words to defend himself. 

“I’m going to die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy.” Gamora said, her tone almost hopeless as she stared at the disaster in the prison around them. 

“... those are some big guns.” Izzy murmured quietly as a group of about ten or so guards appeared with some terrifyingly large guns, pointing them up and at the watchtower mercilessly. The resounding shot shook the tower, making Izzy flinch and reach for her brother’s hand for just a moment, before she realized she  _ really _ didn’t want anyone in this room talking shit about it.

“Rodent, we are ready for your plan.” Gamora snapped, just as nervous as everyone else. Well - likely just Izzy and Peter. Iz wasn’t sure just how nervous Drax could physically get. Or Groot, for that matter. 

“Hold on!” Rocket yelled, moving as quickly as he could as another shot shook the tower. 

“I recognize this animal.” Drax said with a small, nostalgic smile playing at his lips, looking down at Rocket the way someone would look down at a pet. “We’d roast them over a flame pit as children. Their flesh was quite delicious.” 

“Not helping!” Rocket hissed, turning back to glare at Drax. 

When the third shot hit the watchtower, Izzy watched, a sinking feeling in her gut, as the glass cracked and a single piece fell from the frame to the prison floor below. Gamora was right. They were going to die, right here, and right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can definitely admit this chapter isn't my best, and isn't my favorite, but alas, it had to be done! thank you to everyone who's read and commented and left kudos so far, it really means a lot. like i said before, i'm nearing the end of my pre-written chapters, but i am making progress on the next one. slow progress, but progress nonetheless!
> 
> see you all next tuesday! 
> 
> <3 - dirt


	10. All Along The Watchtower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been so excited to name this chapter you guys have no idea

Before the surely fatal shot could even be fired, Rocket slammed two wires together, and the prison fell silent, and all of the guards floated helplessly in the air, artificial gravity everywhere  _ but _ the watchtower disabled. Izzy exhaled a shaky breath in relief, a partially disbelieving smile playing at her lips. 

“You disabled the artificial gravity… everywhere  _ but _ here.” Izzy murmured, looking around at the guards and prisoners suspended in the air. Her honey brown eyes flickered down to Rocket, flashing him an appreciative look. “Clever.” 

Later, when she wasn’t trying to escape a maximum security prison with her twin brother, a racoon, a tree, the daughter of a homicidal maniac, and a completely literal man who tried to kill her just the night before, she’d sit down with Rocket and have him teach her how to do some of that cool shit, but this was hardly the time or place. 

Instead, she watched as the drones that were previously shooting at them were carefully maneuvered by Rocket to latch onto the ends of the watchtower, which was floating just as precariously around the Kyln as everyone and everything else was. Izzy’s brown eyes tried to focus on the damn near  _ magic  _ Rocket was performing on the control panels, but she wasn’t nearly skilled enough to follow his quick work. 

Izzy reached for the control panel as everyone else did when the watchtower was shakily piloted, wincing and making a disgusted face as one of the guards was hit like a bug on a windshield, almost feeling pity for him before she remembered that he could have easily been one of the ones who noticed that her and Gamora were being captured by the other prisoners to be killed. Then, she hoped the glass hurt like hell on his whole body. 

Likewise, as a few other guards ran helplessly away when they got to the room that housed all the prisoner’s impounded belongings, Izzy felt absolutely zero pity as they were either hit, or got caught in some of the miniature explosions set off by the watchtower grinding up against the metal walls, watching impassively. Served them all right. 

Finally, though, and with a strained grunt, Rocket pulled a lever and shut the door behind them and stopped the watchtower. Izzy let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding in a soft laugh. “That… was a pretty good plan.” 

Rocket grinned in a way that would have probably been unnerving on a human being, let alone on a  _ racoon, _ self satisfied and a little… creepy, in a way that Izzy didn’t know how to describe. She turned her focus back to Peter, watching as her twin kicked apart the already cracked glass so that everyone could get out. They all climbed out one by one, with Drax, Gamora, Rocket and Groot searching for the individual compartments that held all their items, while Peter and Izzy searched for their beloved  _ Milano. _

After two sets of identical brown eyes frantically fluttered through the impounded ships docked, finally, Izzy pointed at their method of escape. 

“There! We need to get our ship. It’s the  _ Milano,  _ the orange and blue one over in the corner.” Izzy said urgently, making sure she was heard and someone took note of it before she joined everyone else, grabbing their things from their bins.

“They crumpled my pants up into a ball.” Rocket complained, his nose scrunching up. “That’s rude! They folded yours.” 

Izzy rolled her eyes, grabbing her clothes - neatly folded - along with her copy of  _ The Hobbit, _ and was just about to rush off to change out of her prisoner’s garb when she saw her brother searching through his own compartment. 

“Wait, wait, wait…” Peter mumbled frantically, pawing through his items. Izzy’s heart sunk into her stomach as she rushed to his side, looking through his things, only to not find what he was looking for as well. 

“Shit.” Izzy’s curse was a  _ severe  _ understatement - if the Walkman was gone… well. There went one of two last connections she and Peter had to their mother. She clutched her book to her chest and shared a look of understanding with her twin. She nodded her understanding, and by extension, her approval, and moved along to get changed. 

“What? Where are you going?” Gamora said impatiently, and most certainly a little irritated that Peter was heading to the exit rather than a semi-private place to get changed. 

“Those bastards didn’t put it back.” Peter said through gritted teeth. “I need to go get it.” 

“The orb?” Irritation turned to wide-eyed fear as Gamora came to her own conclusions. 

Izzy ignored the argument she was sure was happening - or going to happen - as Peter explained that the orb was safe, but the Walkman wasn’t in favor of getting into a semi-private area and getting changed. 

“Foolish woman!” 

Izzy let out a high pitched yelp and covered her chest with her shirt as she heard the now familiar baritone of Drax the Destroyer.  _ “Drax! _ I’m changing, get out of here!” 

Her cheeks were bright red as she turned around so he didn’t see her half naked (thank god she had already put her pants on) but could still get changed, since they were  _ kind of _ in a hurry. 

“Where is your idiotic sibling  _ going?” _ He growled, and a cursory glance over her shoulder as she put her jacket on at the literal-minded alien showed that he was tightly gripping the handle of the knife he had been using to threaten her just the night before. 

“Okay, first of all, nobody can call him an idiot but me.” Izzy snapped, sitting on the floor so she could put on and lace her boots up as quickly as she could. “Secondly, my name is Izzy, so stop calling me ‘foolish woman’. It’s rude. Thirdly, we’re kind of in a hurry here! We’ll worry about Peter if he’s late getting to the  _ Milano,  _ got it?” 

Drax looked torn between arguing and being put out that she had spoken to him like that, and Izzy used that brief moment of confusion to stand after she had finished putting on her shoes and patting him on the shoulder. “Come on, big man. Let’s get to my ship.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! sorry it was a day late from my usual tuesday postings, but i had to get a new laptop, and it didn't get in until today. thanks again so much for reading, please hit that kudos button and let me know in the comments what you thought of this chapter, and what you're thinking of the story so far! 
> 
> <3 
> 
> \- dirt


	11. Fox on the Run

Izzy couldn’t begin to describe how relieved she was to be back on the  _ Milano. _ Though she knew it wasn’t  _ entirely _ true, she had been feeling next to completely useless during their time in the Kyln, especially during the escape, and now,  _ she _ was the one who was taking care of business. Isabella Quill may not be good at much, but she knew she was  _ damn _ good at taking care of her  _ Milano. _

She sat in the pilot’s seat after setting her things down, eyebrows knit together in concentration while she brought the ship to life as quick as she could while the others took their places in her beloved ship. 

“Well, how’s he gonna get to us?” Rocket asked, crawling into the co-pilot’s seat. Izzy smirked a little to herself. Peter would have a field day with that one - a  _ raccoon  _ taking  _ his _ seat. Not that she thought he’d do anything against it or anything like that. If she could bet on her brother’s reaction, she’d put all her credits on her brother insisting  _ she _ get up instead so that he could pilot. 

And, truth be told, Izzy would have done so in almost any other scenario. But since she had spent the better part of a few days (weeks, months, years…) feeling completely useless,  _ especially _ feeling useless in this group gathered in the ship currently, she was going to stand her ground this time. At bare minimum to prove to  _ herself _ that she could do  _ something _ useful, if not to everyone else. Peter could sit in the back with the tree this time.

“He declined to share that information with me.” Gamora said icily, clearly peeved that there had been even the slightest bit of change in plans. 

“Well, screw this, then!” Rocket declared. “I ain’t waitin’ around for some humie with a death wish.” 

“Hey!” Izzy snapped, shooting a glare towards the little rodent. “That  _ ‘humie’ _ is my twin brother. We’re  _ not _ leaving without him.” 

“Yes, we  _ are.” _ Rocket snarled right back, reaching for the controls to pilot them away from the Kyln. Izzy huffed in her frustration, slapping his grubby hands away from it like one would to get a child’s hand away from the cookie jar. “We got the orb, and one human is good enough for that damn bounty.”

Izzy’s brown eyes focused on Gamora, a smirk playing on the human’s lips, an eyebrow raised, perhaps a bit  _ too _ cocky, but she didn’t really care at the moment. “Gamora? The orb?” 

Gamora’s eyes narrowed at the smugness in Izzy’s tone, searching frantically through the bag that Peter had handed her before running off, only to find exactly what Izzy suspected - Peter had taken the orb to ensure that the  _ Milano _ wouldn’t leave without him while he got the Walkman back. “The orb is gone.” 

Any other time, the nastiness in her voice would have been enough to send chills down Izzy’s spine, but for now, she was just pleased that she was going to get her way. Though Yondu was the reason Iz and Pete were in the whole mess that they were in, he had taught them invaluable skills that would be getting them  _ out _ of this situation. 

“Foolish woman!” Drax nearly growled, a noise that  _ did, _ in fact, send those chills down Izzy’s spine, though it only provided her a momentary distraction. “Where is the orb?” 

“Isabella.” She corrected, turning back in her seat to better face the gray-skinned mass murderer, who was currently looking back at her in confusion. She didn’t know how he managed to do it, being as intimidating as he was with those intense icy blue, red-rimmed eyes, muscled frame, tall stature, and those red markings angrily littering his skin, but he looked almost  _ adorable _ when he gave her that look. It was almost difficult to reconcile this man with the same man who had almost choked her to death the other night. 

“Isabella?” Drax’s deep baritone echoed, looking like the personification of a question mark. “What  _ is _ a Bella?” 

It was silent for a few moments as all the inhabitants of the  _ Milano _ took in what was just said, all turning to look at the blue eyed man. 

“I am Groot.” Groot explained helpfully. 

“It’s her  _ name,  _ moron.” Rocket translated with far more snark than was strictly necessary, reaching for the controls again, but Izzy had seen it coming and slapped his hands away once more. 

“I am  _ not _ a moron.” Drax said threateningly, taking a step closer to the two pilots. Izzy flinched without truly meaning to, then made a face at the involuntary motion. Meredith Quill didn’t raise her to be a coward. Sure, Drax nearly killed her with his bare hands, but that didn’t mean she needed to be such a weenie about it. 

“As long as it’s not ‘foolish’, or any other insults like it, I don’t give a damn what you’re calling me.” Izzy interjected, trying to distract Drax from maiming the mastermind behind their escape from the Kyln.

Through the corner of her eyes, Izzy saw Gamora bury her face in her hands, clearly exasperated with the meaningless squabble taking place before her. Izzy couldn’t say she blamed her. She was starting to get anxious for her twin’s - and the orb’s - safe return. 

“If we don’t leave now, we’ll be blown to bits.” Rocket bit out, glaring at the youngest Quill twin. 

_ “No.” _ Gamora snapped, body language about as tense as Izzy was feeling at the moment. “We’re not leaving without the orb.” 

Izzy huffed, slamming her hands on her arm rests. “We could at least  _ pretend _ to care about my brother’s safety.” 

Rocket laughed once humorlessly, rolling his eyes. “Ha! Not gonna be doin’ none of that neither.” 

“Behold.” Drax breathed, sounding like he was unsure of whether he ought to be impressed or not. Izzy followed his line of sight, relieved as all hell to see her brother flying through space to get to the  _ Milano. _

“Get the door, help him up.” Izzy ordered, gesturing to the trap door Peter would be coming into, opening the hatch to allow him access. Gamora and Drax surrounded the door in question as it hissed open, revealing Peter Quill in all his glory. 

“This one shows spirit.” Drax said proudly as he and Gamora pulled him up. “He shall make a keen ally in the battle against Ronan.” 

“Thanks for not making me an only child, Pete.” Izzy called, flicking switches and pressing buttons to get started on piloting the ship out of the danger zone, working seamlessly with the raccoon - which was not something Izzy  _ ever _ thought she’d say. 

“Companion, what were you retrieving?” Drax pressed. 

Dimly, and from a bit of ways behind Izzy, she heard some fabric shuffling as, she assumed, Peter took the Walkman out of his jacket pocket to proudly show it to Gamora and Drax. 

There were a few beats of silence before Drax’s next words made Izzy crack a wry smile. 

“You’re an imbicile.” 

“Alright, Iz, move.” Peter said expectantly, holding onto chair his twin sister was sitting in. Izzy simply raised an eyebrow, not looking up from her piloting as they flew rapidly from the Kyln.  _ Called it. _

“Why aren’t you asking Rocket to move?” Izzy quipped, knowing damn well why, but wanting nothing more than to tease him mercilessly for it. Now that she knew he was safe and sound - as was the Walkman and the orb - she finally felt comfortable enough to get back to her usual self. 

“Wh- Isabella. Get up, let me pilot.” Peter mumbled petulantly, nudging her shoulder a few times, the rest of the ragtag group of prison escapees watching the twins with varied amounts of interest. 

“This is my seat, crybaby. I’m not moving.” The young woman said firmly. “Sit with everyone else, or tell Rocket to move.” 

After a brief moment of hesitation, Izzy noticed Peter turning to the side, as if to confront Rocket, but jumped in surprise - and though Izzy knew he’d  _ never _ admit to it, fear - as he heard the raccoon hissing at him, but it didn’t matter. She had seen it, Rocket had seen it, so had Drax, Groot, and Gamora. 

“Fine.” Peter grumbled, sounding the most put off that Izzy had heard in awhile. A large grin was plastered seemingly permanently on her face as he moved to sit with the rest of the group while she and Rocket got them the hell out of there.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on god i've been waiting since i started writing this series to make the "what is a bella" joke. seriously, as i was writing this chapter i cheered out loud when i saw i had the perfect place for it


	12. Old Scars / Future Hearts

Though she still felt a little tense, Izzy was pleased when the  _ Milano _ , and all of it’s inhabitants, were out of harm’s way, soaring through space on autopilot. She mumbled out to her brother that she’d be right back, and promptly headed to her bedroom for some much needed moments of alone time to thoroughly destress and relax her sore muscles. 

After heading to her shower to ensure she didn’t smell like prison anymore, Izzy lounged in the chair in her room with  _ The Hobbit _ held gingerly in her hands _ , _ though she wasn’t quite reading it. Instead, she was gently running her thumb along the well-worn cover, thinking about the day her mother had handed her the book with a soft smile playing at her lips. 

_ “I think you’ll really like this one, Bell.”  _ Meredith Quill had said, eyes crinkled in a smile that lit up all of the darkest days in Izzy’s life, even long after she had passed.  _ “This was one of my favorites, and it’s right up your alley. Lots of adventure.”  _

Izzy remembered reverently taking the bow off of the book and setting it aside, tiny, chubby, yet already calloused fingers running over the raised letters on the cover of the book. When she had flicked it open, it had Meredith’s name in neat letters written on the upper left hand corner.

Nearly thirty years later, Izzy gently opened the book, staring at the handwriting and feeling an all-too familiar pang in her heart. 

_ “I’ll take real good care of it real good, mama. I promise.”  _ A young Isabella Quill swore with all the sincerity she had in her body. 

And she had. Izzy protected the book at all costs. The Ravagers may have done awful, unspeakable things to her and her brother, but on Yondu’s orders, the book and the Walkman were never to be untouched. She supposed not many, if any, of the Ravagers really knew how to read anyway, so they wouldn’t get much use out of her book in the first place, but that was beside the point.

Izzy closed her eyes momentarily, thinking of her mother’s face, her warmth, her beauty and her strength. God, she missed her. Izzy swore that if she could, she would do anything to get her mama back. But this was real life, not a fantasy novel. Her mom was gone… but the memory remained. She was lucky, too, to have Peter still. Peter, who was so much like her mother, it made missing her a little bit more bearable.

Though Meredith insisted that each of the twins reminded her of their daddy, Izzy always had been able to see so much of her mama in Pete. Though she spent most of her days teasing and being generally irritated with her brother, Iz genuinely didn’t know what she would do without him. He was her rock, her number one, her best friend and her confidant. 

Meredith Quill may be gone, but Izzy wasn’t alone. And though the memory was hurting terribly now, she would be fine. Her mama raised her to be strong - strong enough to live without her. No matter how rough things got, how rough things were right  _ now, _ Iz and Pete would be okay. They’d  _ always _ be okay, as long as they had each other. 

Feeling much better now than she had been in the last few days, Izzy stood and carefully rested her book on her nightstand. 

“Love you, mama.” Izzy whispered, gently pressing her fingertips to the cover of the book. After a moment or two, she finally turned around, serene mood gone the second she turned to see Drax there, standing awkwardly in her doorway. She let out a surprised yell, jumping a little and resting her hand over her chest.  _ “Drax! _ God  _ damn, _ make some  _ noise _ next time, would ya?” 

“I apologize for scaring you, Isabella.” Drax’s dulcet baritone voice sounded just as uncomfortable as his stiff shoulders and slightly unfocused eyes looked. “And I have been informed that I need to apologize for attempting to choke you to death during our time in prison.” 

Izzy stopped and stared at him, her racing finally heart calming down as she took in his words. There was a beat or two of silence before a laugh bubbled up from her chest to her throat, spilling unbidden from her lips. Drax’s stunning blue eyes narrowed, and his head tilted to the side in obvious confusion as to why she was laughing when he was trying to seriously apologize to her for the attempted murder. 

“I, uh.” Iz began, trying to stifle her giggles. Even  _ she  _ wasn’t entirely sure what was so funny, but she figured it probably had something to do with how ridiculous her life had come to be since her time on Earth when she was just a child. She had had such a normal life… and now a massive alien was trying to apologize for nearly killing her in prison, standing in her bedroom on her alien spaceship which had been gifted to her by her adopted family of space pirates, who had abducted her and her twin brother.

“Thanks for the apology.” Izzy finally said when she had composed herself enough. “I understand, though. Never had a wife and a daughter, obviously, but if someone tried to kill my brother… I’d probably be a little trigger happy with the people involved, too.” 

It wasn’t until Drax looked impossibly  _ more _ confused that Izzy realized her mistake. She had forgotten about the ‘completely literal’ thing. Geez, that was gonna take some getting used to. As much as she teased Peter about him speaking entirely in metaphors, she was realizing she was guilty of the same thing the more time she spent with the Destroyer. 

“Trigger happy is a metaphor for being quick to react violently, especially with guns, but not in your case. At least, not back in the Kyln with Gamora and I.” She explained, watching as the understanding lit up his eyes. He nodded once, seemingly content with her answer, and with her acceptance of his apology. 

“I will attempt to be less ‘trigger happy’ with you, Isabella. I am… more reassured that you mean me no harm, and now that I know you or your brother are not allied with Ronan.” Drax offered, and Iz had to admit, she really appreciated the whole ‘total honesty’ thing he had going on. 

“I appreciate that. We gotta all be able to trust each other for now, you know? At least trust each other not to murder the others while they sleep.” 

Drax nodded then, as if he understood clearly. “Though I would not murder you in your sleep. I have far too much honor to murder you in such a cowardly way. I would face you head on in glorious combat, like a true warrior.” 

Izzy sighed. Well, at least she didn’t have to worry about Drax stabbing her in the back. Gamora and Rocket, on the other hand… “Thanks for that, Drax. Really reassuring.” 

Strong shoulders now pushed back proudly, and chin tilted upwards in refound confidence, Drax nodded once to accept her thanks. “I do have another thing I wish to say to you.” 

Wearily, Izzy looked into his eyes, as if trying to decide whether or not she  _ wanted _ to hear whatever potentially insensitive thing he had to say next. When she found nothing, she simply gestured for him to speak. 

“I am sorry for repeatedly calling you foolish.” He began, making Izzy lift an eyebrow in surprise. Well. She certainly wasn’t expecting  _ that, _ but she’d take it. “After spending an extended amount of time with you, I have come to the conclusion that, while you have made some questionable decisions, you are not a foolish woman.” 

It was again silent in Izzy’s bedroom for a moments as she let his words sink in. A smile, small at first, before it grew gradually in size and warmth, played at her lips. “Thank you, Drax. I appreciate it.”

She didn’t know how terribly she had needed to hear that. It was almost a relief, to have that sort of recognition. He wasn’t calling her  _ smart, _ no, but ‘not foolish’ was still close enough to a compliment in her books. At least close enough to make her feel good. 

The conversation lulled then, but it wasn’t as awkward as it was when Drax first appeared in her bedroom. Without another word, clearly done and satisfied with their private talk, Drax turned on his heel to exit the room, and since Izzy was planning on joining her brother and the others in the common area anyway, she followed him down the halls.

“Oh, and Drax?” Izzy called to the man walking before her, eyeing the raised tattoos on his back as she followed. 

“Yes, Isabella?” 

“Could you knock next time you enter my room, please?” 

Izzy couldn’t discern the tone or the expression on his face as he responded, but she supposed that being able to read his voice would come with more time. 

“Yes, Isabella.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please let me know what you think!! first original content thus far and i'm a bit nervous to see ya'll's reactions to it! let me know what you liked and what you didn't so i can take it into account when i write the next original chapter. thanks for reading! remember, new chapters every tuesday and you can follow me on tumblr at the same url and twitter at the same url but without the i! 
> 
> <3   
> \- Dirt


	13. The Downfall of Us All

Though Izzy was feeling significantly better as she made it to the main area of her precious  _ Milano, _ she was almost wishing she had spent a few more moments of alone time when she walked in on Rocket and Peter discussing something about bombs. Light brown eyes shut and a soft, exasperated sigh pushed past her lips as she shook her head at the two. 

“No bombs on my ship, please.” Izzy requested, stepping towards the planning area where Gamora and Drax were. 

_ “Our _ ship…” 

“Psh. You humies wanna suck the fun out of  _ everything.” _

Izzy, as per her usual, ignored Peter’s petulant correction and Rocket’s grumbling and attempted to get back to business. She had wasted enough time as it was, they needed to get back on track. “I’m gonna need the coordinates of your buyer, Gamora.” 

“We’re headed in the right direction.” Gamora said cooly, her voice giving away nothing as she picked up the orb for idle observation, turning it in her hands before her eyes landed again on Izzy. “For now.” 

Almost subconsciously, Izzy took a step back. Whether that was for fear of Gamora or the orb, she didn’t know, and didn’t have time to analyze right now. “I get your reservations. I really do. But if we’re gonna be working together, this is information we all need to know.” 

Gamora’s icy gaze stayed fixated on Izzy, keeping stubbornly silent, and as much as she wanted to say she’d be able to stay strong while she was trapped in that glare, she was most certainly going to break if this held on for much longer, and she had a feeling everyone on the whole ship knew it. 

“Iz is right. We need to trust each other here.” Pete interjected, breaking the tension between the two women. Izzy, though still tense, felt substantially better when she was able to get a few moment’s reprieve. 

“And how much do  _ you _ trust  _ me?” _ Gamora asked scathingly, looking up at Peter from underneath her eyelashes. Izzy had to give her twin props for not falling to that look as she had. 

“I’d trust you a lot  _ more _ if you told me what this was.” Peter said purposefully, taking the orb from her hands. “Because I’m guessing it’s some kind of weapon.”

Izzy made a face involuntarily at the odd noise that came from the orb when her twin set it down. 

“I don’t know what it is.” Gamora stressed, leaning onto the table and fixating the orb with a frustrated glare. Despite the fact that Izzy was the one advocating for everyone to trust each other, she wasn’t quite sure she could trust that Gamora was telling the truth. 

“If it’s a weapon, we should use it against Ronan.” Drax growled - and once again it struck Izzy that he had pretty much the same tone of voice for any emotion she’s seen in him yet. Or maybe he just had the one emotion, she didn’t know. 

Gamora’s teeth bared as if she was some sort of wild animal as she learned forward to confront Drax, who  _ was, _ in Gamora’s defense, holding the orb rather recklessly. “Put it  _ down, _ you fool, you’ll destroy us all.” 

“Or just  _ you, _ murderess!” Drax countered, seeming to take Gamora’s less than friendly stance as a provocation. And, of course, because nothing could go  _ right _ on this ship for too long before something drastic happens, the two were nearly chest to chest, looking like either one was about two clicks away from literally murdering each other. 

“I let you live  _ once, _ princess!” Gamora snapped, her fingers looking like they were almost completely instinctively curling, as if to be pulling a trigger. What was that Izzy was saying earlier to Drax about ‘trigger happy’?

“I am  _ not _ a princess!” 

_ Okay, _ Izzy winced.  _ Maybe time to break this up. _

“Hey!” Izzy barked, slamming her hands on the table just to create some noise, though neither of the two broke their murderous gazes. “Nobody is killing anybody on my ship.” 

_ “Our _ ship-”

“Like it or not, we’re all stuck together until we get the money.” Izzy said firmly, and at least Drax had the decency to look down and not say a word to argue, though his body was still tense and he hadn’t moved away from the potential bloodbath. Gamora, on the other hand, only seemingly switched targets. That was fine, though. As long as  _ those _ two weren’t fighting. 

Drax scoffed and tossed Izzy the orb, as if she had just said something horribly offensive. “I have no interest in  _ money.”  _

And with that, he stalked off, a scowl on his face so fierce that it made chills run down her spine. Izzy winced as he brushed past her, hanging her head. She felt like she had been making  _ progress, _ damn it. 

The  _ Milano _ and all of it’s inhabitants were awkwardly silent then, until Peter, bless his heart, broke it. “Great. That means more money for the four of us.” 

Izzy jumped a little, startled when she heard Groot huffing beside her, having not noticed the giant tree until now. Jesus. She really  _ was _ off her a-game. This was starting to get a little ridiculous, jumping at every little thing. 

“For the  _ five _ of us, then.” Peter grumbled after a sigh that was more heavy than necessary, because her twin was nothing if not dramatic. “Partners.” 

“We have an agreement,” Gamora said slowly, her tone sharp enough to cut through the tension in the room, “but I would never be partners with the likes of you.” 

_ Jesus. _

Izzy winced in sympathy for her twin, looking briefly down at the orb on the table. For what felt like the millionth time, she couldn’t help but curse that orb and all the  _ shit _ it had brought into her life. 

“I’ll tell the buyer we’re on our way.” The green-skinned assassin stated cooly, before making pointed eye contact with both Quill twins. “And by the way? Your ship is filthy.” 

“Uncalled for, and also  _ his _ fault!” Izzy defended, though her words fell on uncaring ears as Gamora climbed the stairs that lead to what would be her temporary quarters while she was on the  _ Milano. _

Peter, however, seemed to care less when confronted with his own filth by someone other than his twin sister. Instead, a lazy smirk was playing at his lips as he watched Gamora’s backside walk up those stairs. 

“Oh, she has no idea.” Pete said almost wistfully, looking around the ship in pride that he  _ really _ shouldn’t have when it came to the pigsty he seemed content to live in, giving Rocket a sly grin. “If I had a black light, this place would look like a Jackson Pollock painting.” 

Rocket simply shook his head, heading off just like all the others had. “You got issues, kid.” 

Peter simply scoffed and rolled his eyes, turning to look at his sister, who was the only person that they hadn’t, collectively, chased out of the room. 

“Well. Maybe we should-” 

Izzy cut him off before he could say another word. “Nope. You’re being nasty. I’m going to go try to fix things.” 

And though Izzy turned her back to him, being his twin and spending her whole entire life practically conjoined at his hip, she could  _ see _ the way he very maturely stuck his tongue out at her as she walked away. 

“And put your tongue back into your mouth, you look stupid.” Izzy called behind her, not bothering to even look behind her.

But as she often was when it came to Pete, she was right. 

“Whatever,  _ you _ look stupid!” 

Izzy simply held up her middle finger, and again, without looking, she knew her brother was returning the gesture. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's a bit later in the day than normal! i totally spaced and forgot this morning. i'll be better next week, i promise! 
> 
> anyway, lots of tension, a bit of a clash here in this chapter, and next chapter, i think will branch out into another original chapter. we'll see where it goes! 
> 
> thanks for reading everyone! comments and kudos are love! 
> 
> <3  
> \- dirt


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